毕业论文：英汉动物谚语的对比研究

毕业论文：英汉动物谚语的对比研究（精选7篇）

毕业论文：英汉动物谚语的对比研究 篇1

A Comparative Study of English and Chinese Animal Proverbs 1

A Comparative Study of English and

Chinese Animal

Proverbs I.Introduction In Longman Modern English Dictionary, proverb is “a brief familiar maxim of folk wisdom, usually compressed in form, often involving a bold image and frequently a jingle that catches the memory.” A proverb, which succinctly sums up human experience and observation of the world, states a general truth and gives advice or warning.A proverb, often involving a bold image, musical rhythm and compressed form, can bring vividness to the readers and so they are easy to remember and spread.Proverbs are summing up of folk wisdom, they are usually pithy, and have universal appeals.People love to pick up proverbs when they try to reason things out and the proper use of proverbs can make their views more convincing.Proverbs are the crystal of the national wisdom.They are an important part of a national language and they appropriately reflect the relation between culture and language.They have been connected closely with the national characteristics ever since their coming into being and in their development.It is generally acknowledged that different peoples have great differences in their cultures.But since different peoples live on the same earth with roughly similar needs and some of them have even experienced similar social development stage, their experiences, emotional reflection and observation of the world are in many aspects similar.This shows that different peoples may have cultural generality besides cultural difference.Proverbs, as the cream of a language, inevitably carry the imprint of cultural difference and generality.The difference and generality respectively lead to the dissimilarities and similarities between English and Chinese animal proverbs and making a comparative study of them is of great significance.A Comparative Study of English and Chinese Animal Proverbs 2

II.Animals Proverbs with Identical Meanings Some animal proverbs in English and Chinese are identical in meaning.The proverbs in this category are limited in number.They are the result of either coincidence or translation loans from one language to another.These proverbs are not hindered by national boundaries or culture barriers, instead they have take on universal significance.The following are some examples.1.English: An ass is known by his ears./ Chinese: 见耳识驴，听话知愚。2.English: It is a sad house where the hen crows louder than the cock.Chinese: 牝鸡司晨，家之不详。

Many factors have contributed to the emergence of fully corresponding pairs in English and Chinese proverbs.Firstly, although different nations live in varied natural environments and diversified geographic conditions, they still share quite a lot in common.They have more or less the same species of animals.And the common ground of human cultures is larger than the individual feature of each culture.Although, people’s concrete ways of life are varied in different places, the fundamental ways of living and thinking are the same for the whole human race.Secondly, owing to culture exchange, translation loans are borrowed from each other, which are not limited to the root ideas but sometimes include the “clothing of the idea”.As a result, some proverbs with identical animal image come into existence in different language, for instance, “He who rides a tiger is afraid to dismount” and “骑虎难下”.III.Animal Images with Different Meanings in Proverbs

A Comparative Study of English and Chinese Animal Proverbs 3

Some English and Chinese proverbs share the same images, and people take it for granted that they should have the same connotation, but actually, they contain different or even opposite meanings.For example, “It is a good horse that never stumbles.” and “好马不失蹄”.In this example, the English proverb “It’s a good horse that never stumbles”, is easy to be translated into Chinese “好马不失蹄”.In fact, the English proverb means even a good horse will stumble, so the right translation should be “好马也有失蹄时”.In the following part, the reasons for misunderstandings and the different choice of animal images will be clarified.A.Reasons for misunderstandings

Firstly, sometimes, the old use of grammar remains in the proverbs, and it may mislead our comprehension.The preservation of the old grammatical structure “it’s...that...” is similar to the modern structure in form, but opposite in meaning.The misunderstanding of the English proverb “It’s a good horse that never stumbles” as Chinese proverb “好马不失蹄” is due to this old grammatical structure.Secondly, when people hold different views and attitudes to animals, and their different worldviews toward the same situations, the same animal images may have different or even opposite meanings in different culture, and proverbs containing the same animal images will possibly have different meanings.The seemingly corresponding English and Chinese proverbs may have different connotations.For example: “Dog eats dog” and “狗咬狗”.“Dog eats dog” is always regarded as “狗咬狗”.But actually “Dog eats dog” refers to the phenomenon that people hurt those of the same group, while “狗咬狗” means bad people fight with bad people, so the two proverbs mean differently.B.Factors influencing the choice of animal images in proverbs

A Comparative Study of English and Chinese Animal Proverbs 4

The languages have some universality, but more importantly, they have their own culturally specific features.The culturally specific features are closely related to their religion, special geography, literature and psychology.1.Different religious beliefs Different nations usually believe in different religion.Thus proverbs of diverse nations surely express various religious beliefs.In the west, Britain and America are Christian countries with a long history.And Christian as the main belief of them has already taken roots in their lives for ages.Christians believe in the God.The God is the unique and supreme god, while people are born with a sin, and are the same and equal in the face of the God, so the common people respect and worship the God, but disregard the majesty.“A cat may look at a king” reflects this kind of thought.Furthermore, there are some animals endowed with different religious meanings.In Christianity the serpent is the symbol of devil and Satan, while the lamb is the symbol of the God’s people and timidity, and the dragon is the symbol of evil and danger.Serpent enticed Eve to steal fruit of Tree of conscience and she then shared with Adam.In the end they two were kicked out of the Garden of Eden.So in English proverbs, snake has a meaning of cunning.In China, Buddhism has been spread over one thousand years, and the Buddhist culture has been melt into the daily life of the Chinese for a long time.As a result, it is very common that quite a number of Chinese believe in Buddhism.Some Chinese proverbs are about Buddhism.There are proverbs about the strict social classes and roles.Here are some examples.狗肉烧酒穿肠过，佛在心中留。(Buddha in heart, wine and meat will pass through intestines.)狗咬吕洞宾，不识好人心。(Don’t snap and snarl at me when I’m trying to do my best for you.)

A Comparative Study of English and Chinese Animal Proverbs 5

2.Different geographic conditions Geographically England is located in the Western Hemisphere, while China lies in the Eastern Hemisphere, thus England and China have different climate.They form different living styles.England is an island country, so most Englishman make livings by fishery or navigation.Chinese formed their living style----farming and stock rising.Therefore, there are a great many different proverbs.Firstly, there are some animal proverbs about the special climate in England.If the cock crows on going to bed, he’s sure to rise with a watery head.(公鸡傍晚叫，早晨有雨到。)March comes in with adder heads, and goes out with peacock tails.(三月来如猛狮，去如羔羊。)Furthermore, fishery and navigation are of great importance to English people and it is no wonder that plenty of English proverbs are on fishery or navigation, and a lot on fishes.But in China, the fish does not carry so many national meanings.The following are some English fish proverbs.All is fish that comes to his net.(进网都是鱼。)Fish begins to stink at the head.(鱼烂头先臭。)3.Different literary backgrounds Different nations have different literature, which makes up particular cultural backgrounds of proverbs.On the basis of this, a great many proverbs are often simple in structure but deep in meaning.In order to grasp and translate their deep meanings accurately, we must be clear about the literature.In Chinese there are a lot of animal proverbs originated from various classical works, such as: 二者不可兼得，舍鱼而取熊掌.A Comparative Study of English and Chinese Animal Proverbs 6

On the other hand, English proverbs also take in the quintessence of many literal works and are in fact the well-known remarks of some famous writers, such as some proverbs of Shakespeare: All cats love fish but fear to wet their paws.(欲吃龙肉，又怕下海。)Patience perforce is medicine for a mad dog.(不得已的忍耐是疯狗的药方。)In brief, both China and English have their diverse and colorful literature, which is vividly reflected in their proverbs and as well have constituted the historical and cultural backgrounds of their proverbs.Thus whenever we translate proverbs, it is helpful for us to look into histories and origins of the proverbs and make proper judgments according to the backgrounds.4.Different psychologies Although mankind shares many life experiences and thoughts, and different cultures occasionally have some cultural overlaps, yet on the whole different cultures have different psychology, and people of different cultures hold different attitudes to the same animals.Here we will take animals for examples to explain the different psychology in proverbs of different nations.With the development of human society, many animals play an important role in human life and some of them have become a particular kind of symbolism in people’s mind, and animals in various countries symbolize diverse meaning.The connotations of animals in proverbs of one language do not coincide with those in other languages.The different connotative meanings which the animal words carry in different countries are called cultural implication of the word by the famous Chinese professor Wang Dechun, a noted linguist at home.National cultural meaning is an essential signified meaning of the words tinged with an ethnic group’s cultural connotations.In English and Chinese animal images, both similarities and differences exist in national cultural meanings.However the dissimilarities are absolute while the similarities are relative.Both universality and individuality lie in different cultural connotations loaded in English and Chinese

A Comparative Study of English and Chinese Animal Proverbs 7

animal proverbs.IV.A brief Introduction of the Proverbs Involved in Several Kinds of Animals A.Proverbs of the dragon(龙)In Chinese and western culture, dragon is the animal existed in the myths and legends.In China dragon is the symbol of auspicious honor.It is a bright contrast that in English dragon is fundamentally evil and cruel.In Chinese culture, dragons symbolize good luck, authority, noble, and prosperity.We Chinese are proud to call ourselves “descendants of the dragon”.In the feudal society, dragon is the emblem of the emperor;the emperors thought they were real dragons and the sons of the heaven.Today dragon is still supreme in the heart of Chinese people.China is called “Oriental Dragon”;dragon is regarded as the totem of the Chinese nation.There are a lot of proverbs about dragon, such as “龙生龙，凤生凤”, “强龙压不过地头蛇”.All these proverbs show that dragon(龙)is a great part in the Chinese culture.However, in English people think that dragon is the representative of the evil, a ferocious monster.The distinctions between Chinese and English culture makes the same animals have different connotation and the choices of animal images are completely different.As a result of this, when we want to use English to express the “龙”, we must take this kind of distinction into consideration.“亚洲四小龙” should be translated as “four tigers” instead of “four dragons”.B.Proverbs with word “bat”(蝙蝠)In English-speaking countries, folks think bat as an evil animal and it is often used with the dark and evil force.So in English, proverbs with word “bat” commonly contain derogatory sense.In “as blind as bat”, it becomes a typical image of blind person with eyes open.Bat also has evil meanings of being absurd and odd.We use

A Comparative Study of English and Chinese Animal Proverbs 8

“have bats in the belfry” or “crazy as a bat” to say that a person is off one’s mind.In the traditional Chinese culture, bat(蝙蝠)is homophonic with “福” which means happiness, luck, and blessing.Therefore, old bat woodcarving and embroidery with bats put up people’s wish of blessing for auspicious and happy life.C.Proverbs of sheep and goats(羊)Because of the influence of The bible, the images of sheep and goat are as like as an apple to an oyster.Proverbs of goats are usually derogatory.“Play the goat” is to act as a fool.In The bible, a shepherd tried to distinguish sheep and goats, and he placed sheep right and put goat in the other side in that wild goats often infiltrated the flock to lure sheep.So that the proverb “separate the sheep from the goats” is to divide good or useful people from bad or useless ones.In the eye of Chinese, they two belong to the same species, and don’t any special implied meanings.The UK is a graziery-developed country and people there prefer to wool products.Owing to this, many wool proverbs spring up.Here are some examples: “pull the wool over one’s eyes”which means using people’s innocence to make a cheat into being, “go for wool and come home shorn”that has the meaning of overshoot oneself and “much cry and little wool” the Chinese meaning of which is “雷声大，雨点小”.D.Proverbs of the owl(猫头鹰)Owl is a clever and witty bird with wisdom, earnest and other culture connotations.Words, as “owlish” and “owlishly”, often apply to describe a man to be smart, resourceful and serious.Also in children’s books and comics, owls are often very intelligent.When dispute appears, the animals will ask owls to coordinate when there is an emergency.But in China, it is totally different.Chinese think that owl is linked with superstitious believes, and people are afraid of hearing their hoot because of a faith

A Comparative Study of English and Chinese Animal Proverbs 9

that man will be unfortunate when meeting owls.So a Chinese proverb “猫头鹰进宅，好事不来” means adversity is upcoming.An American woman came to China for the first time and knew little about what Chinese thought of owls.She loved owl pins very much and often wore them.She found people around her often point at her when she wore owl pins.Moreover, some of them even stopped to ask him why she wore owl pins which greatly puzzled her.Only when a Chinese told her about the superstitious thought of owl in Chinese eyes, did she stop wearing it in China.E.Proverbs of the cat(猫)The westerner is one of the important members of the “pet culture”.Cat is used to describe the female, model’s stage steps on the runway named catwalk.“Old cat” is old woman of bad temper.“Barber’s cat” is a person with a starved look.“Copy cat” often said by children is a metaphor to kids copying others.There is a proverb that “when the cat is away, the mouse will play”.It tells people that when a power is absent, others will lawless and naughty.Cat in Chinese does not have any similar uses in proverbs.But “山中无老虎，猴子称大王” have the same meaning with this proverb.There are much more examples, the following examples are widely used.1)English:A cat may look at a king./ Chinese:小人物也有权利

2)English:All cats are grey in the dark./ Chinese:不因为美丑就判断别人的好坏 3)English:That’s like putting the cat near the goldfish bowl./ Chinese:引狼入室

Even though cat occasionally exists in Chinese, some cat proverbs are still in use.“猫改不了吃腥” is commonly applied to a person who can not change his long-standing habits.“吃猫食” is just eating like bird.F.Proverbs of the dog(狗)

A Comparative Study of English and Chinese Animal Proverbs 10

Dog is a word that often used in proverbs and we should pay great attention to.As a matter of fact, people in western countries loves dog more than us.In these countries people loves to keep dogs and they usually call themself or others dog with no meaning of dog.Also dogs are titled with a laudatory name as “man’s best friend” in Britain and America.So in English there are many proverb of dogs such as “Every dog has its day”, “Barking dog seldom bite”, “Dog does not eat dog”, “you are a lucky dog”.But in Chinese, many proverb with dogs have bad meanings and often associate with disgusting things such as “狗改不了吃屎”, “狗咬吕洞宾，不识好人心”, “挂羊头，卖狗肉”.All these show that people have no good feelings to dog in the past.Some employers deny people born in the year of the dog.These proverbs contain a derogatory meaning against dogs, and reflect people’s bad impression to the dog.V.The Principles in the Translation of Animal Proverbs

English and Chinese proverbs are from various sources, and they give information about their culture on many social subjects, so there is necessity of a study for translation of English and Chinese proverbs to acquire more information of different nations.Translation is also becoming increasingly important as a medium of international communication.A faithful translation of English and Chinese proverbs will attract the target language readers not only for its vivid and expressive language, but also for much interesting information.Therefore, the purpose of proverb translation isn’t only to absorb and introduce the vivid expressions, but also to enrich the target readers with the culture of other nations and to learn the philosophy and views of the world and life.For this purpose, translators shall pay great attention to keeping the sense and flavor of the original and acquire the highest degree of cultural exchange.The best translation shall contain both the original image and the connotation.Traditionally, there are two major translation methods: literal translation and free

A Comparative Study of English and Chinese Animal Proverbs 11

translation.Literal translation focuses on the source language, referring to the translation based on the form, while free translation focuses on the target language, referring to the translation based on meaning.Which method shall be more important, and be put at the first place? Translators have been arguing over the question for a long time.Though there are not set rules for translating animal images, translation principles does exist.They are cultural equivalence and validity principles.A.Cultural equivalence principle As far as the cultural transmission is concerned, it implies conveying as much as possible the original cultural information in the translated texts in order to achieve the highest degree of language-culture correspondence between the source language and target language.“Equivalent effect” in translation includes linguistic equivalence, stylistic equivalence and socio-cultural equivalence.With the development of linguistics and the increasing degree of communication between different cultures, the socio-cultural equivalence is becoming more and more important.The translators are not satisfied with only transmitting the meaning, but they want to have an integration of both meaning and form.They want to introduce the original form and meaning to foreign land.In terms of transmitting cultural images, cultural equivalence includes equivalence of both the superficial form and the deep cultural content.In image translation, to convey the form and the content determines whether the superficial information or the deep connotative information of a cultural image is conveyed.The best way to convey cultural images is to combine the form equivalence and the content equivalence.However, cultural equivalence does not mean strict or rigid adherence to the original images.If the formal equivalence and the content equivalence cannot be achieved at the same time, the translation should be flexible, and they could give

A Comparative Study of English and Chinese Animal Proverbs 12

priority to the content equivalence, and try their best to convey the cultural information contained in the formal image.Otherwise, the rigid adherence to the original form will not get cultural equivalence in the true sense.The focus is how to change forms properly in reproducing similar effects so as to convey cultural information to the largest extent.B.Validity principle As far as image transmission is concerned, the validity principle means the conveyed cultural information must be valid when a translator tries his best to accomplish cultural equivalence principle.The validity principle requires in the first place translators should neither over-domesticate nor over-foreignize cultural images, so as to avoid imagery confrontation and achieve imagery acceptability.The validity principle and cultural equivalence principle are interrelated with and interdependent on each other, but the validity principle is more concerned with the target language readers.If the translated image makes no sense to the target language readers or causes misunderstanding to them, all the work done by the translator is futile.For example: “It’s raining cats and dogs”.If we translate it into “天上下猫和狗了”, the translation will be absurd to Chinese people.Although the original images are kept, the translation is invalid, so the better translation may be the deletion of the original images: “天上下着瓢泼大雨”.In conclusion, the translation of cultural image is complex.We shall try our best to knit the foreignization and domestication flexibly, and follow the principles of cultural equivalence and validity.VI.Conclusion

The translation of proverbs and animal images is really a complex and delicate work.It should be kept in mind that the main purpose of translation is to transmit different cultures.In translation, the traits of culture shall be remained as much as

A Comparative Study of English and Chinese Animal Proverbs 13

possible, and the two principles of cultural equivalence and validity should be followed.As translators, we shall try our best to find the most appropriate translation which is not only faithful to the meaning, but also keeps the original cultural colors.There is not a settled way as to what kind of translation is the best because the culture is forever changing with the time.The formerly strange proverbs may be considered as natural with the widening communication and rapid globalization.Therefore the translation of proverbs shall always catch up with the time.Translation should also be in harmony with the kind of the writing and purpose of writing.Also, the translation of the same proverb and the same animal image may be different if the context changes, sometimes original colors shall be kept, but sometimes they should be deleted.A Comparative Study of English and Chinese Animal Proverbs 14

Bibliography [1] Bassett.Cultural Elements in Translation[J].Translation Journal, 1980, 6(3): 22-26.[2] National Research Council.China and Global Change: Opportunities for Collaboration[M].Washington: Natal.Acad., 1992.[3] Newmark, Peter.Approaches to Translation[M].New York: Pergamon Press, 1982.[4] Nida, E.A.Language, Culture and Translating[M].Shanghai: Shanghai Foreign Language Education Press, 2001.[5] Samovar, Porter.Intercultural Communication[M].New York: Wadsworth Publishing Company, 1997.[6] 陈骋.汉英习语的文化差异及其翻译[J].江西社会科学, 2002,(12): 28-32.[7] 陈建芳.论英语动物词的语义特征与翻译[J].湘潭大学学报(哲学社会科学版), 1998,(2): 27-36.[8] 丁菲菲.交际中的文化动物词及翻译策略[J].集美大学学报(哲学社会科学版), 2001,(4): 12-14.[9] 丁军.实用英语翻译[M].北京: 电子工业出版社, 2005: 34-35.[10] 何善芬.英语语言对比研究[M].上海: 上海外语教育出版社, 2002.[11] 李桂玲.英汉谚语的语音结构与修辞[J].重庆交通学院学报.2002,(2): 48-52.[12] 李青.动物类谚语和习语的翻译[J].昌潍师专学报, 2001,(3): 43-47.[13] 李悦.英汉动物词的文化内涵比较及其翻译[J].中南大学学报(社会科学版), 2003,(5): 23-25.[14] 刘金生.英汉动物词语文化内涵及差异[J].莱阳农学院学报(社会科学版), 2000,(1): 13-14.[15] 欧忆, 贾德江.英汉动物类习语比较及其翻译[J].中国科技翻译, 2001,(4): 26-28.[16] 彭庆华.英语习语研究——语用学视角[M].北京: 社会科学文献出版社, 2007.[17]平洪, 张国杨.英语习语与文化[M].北京: 外语教学与研究出版社, 2000.[18] 覃先美.英语动物文化考释[M].长沙: 国防科技大学出版社, 2002.[19] 汪福祥, 蔡坚.英语谚语妙用500例[M].北京: 外文出版社, 2001.[20] 王德春.汉英谚语与文化[M].上海: 上海外语教育出版社, 2003.[21] 王晓丽.动物形象英语成语的翻译[J].齐齐哈尔大学学报(哲学社会科学版), 2002,(5):

A Comparative Study of English and Chinese Animal Proverbs 15

32-33.[22] 徐宏亮.英汉比喻喻体的国俗语义比较[J].广西社会科学, 2003,(9): 58-61.[23] 杨自俭.英汉语比较与翻译[M].上海: 上海外语教育出版社, 2002.[24] 张培基.英汉翻译教程[M].上海: 上海外语教育出版社, 1991.[25] 张廷芳.狗年话狗[M].北京: 中国科学技术出版社, 2006.[26] 朱文俊.现代英语语言和文化研究[M].北京: 北京语言学院出版社, 1994.A Comparative Study of English and Chinese Animal Proverbs 16

Acknowledgements First, I would like to extend my sincere thanks to all the respected professors and teachers from whom I have learned not only the knowledge but also the way of related disciplines, and serious attitude to do research work.Second, I would like to express my hearty appreciation to my teacher Feng yan and Liao suyun for their rigorous and expert direction.Their effective guidance research enabled me to implement the work smoothly.Their insightful comments on the study have been both encouraging and helpful.Their constant help and care have always inspired me to learn more.Their kindness also offers me lots of good materials.Thirdly, I would like to thank the librarians in our campus library, for they have helped me to find various reference books needed for my study.

毕业论文：英汉动物谚语的对比研究 篇2

自古以来, 动物与人类的生存发展息息相关。一方面, 随着人类社会的进步, 动物已成为人们生活的一部分, 它们被当作人类的朋友, 为人们服务, 或被当作宠物给人类带来欢乐;另一方面, 许多动物被人们赋予神性, 视为图腾, 顶礼膜拜。这些动物形象积淀着特定的民族心理, 负载着人们的感情。长期以来, 人们便用与动物有关的词来描写有关的人或物, 赋予动物词汇丰富的文化内涵。由于不同的历史和文化, 不同的人生观, 以及不同文化的审美观, 动物词汇的内涵意义会因为语言的不同而不同。

语言是文化的重要基石。人类居住在含有一定社会和文化氛围的环境中。因此, 人类行为总是不可避免地受到文化形式的影响, 包括我们的语言方式。Guerra Stone曾经指出:“语言和文化相辅相成, 紧密联系。语言是文化的产物。同样它也是形成和塑造文化的重要的中介桥梁。

二、文化内涵差异性的原因

2.1 地域原因

文化的形成和当地的环境有着密切的关系, 并且深受其影响。人们居住在不同的环境将会形成不同的文化。在英语和汉语中, 许多动物词汇的文化内涵的差异性均是由于地理环境的不同而形成的。

例如, 生活在高山的人们会更多地采用高山上的词汇来表达词语的意义, 而生活在热带的人们拥有更多热带水果的词汇和内涵。与此同时, 地域环境的不一样, 生活习惯、饮食条件等等都不一样, 所传达的意义也不一致。

2.2 历史原因

每个国家都有着自己不同的历史文化, 这其中有被后人传颂的诗文、寓言、传奇、传记等等。其中, 最重要的是暗指这种形式, 它反映了当时的民族特征。这些所传承下来的文化内涵是人类文化遗迹的重要表现形式。它将很好地帮助后代了解和学习历史。对于历史文化背景的学习将很好地帮助我们理解英语和汉语之间文化内涵的差异性。

每个民族都经历了千秋万代的历史变迁, 每个时代所继承下来的某些事物的文化内涵意义均有所改变或者添加或者减少甚至完全消灭等等。这些所喻指的意义均对后来的文学现象和学习有很好的参考价值。

三、英汉动物词汇的对比研究

最后一部分我们将重点分析英汉动物词汇的对比。具体分析说明如下:

3.1 动物词汇一样, 文化内涵相似

众所周知, 所有的人类均住在同一地球, 有着相似的地理环境。他们对这个客观的世界所形成的感受和认知有着相似性。所以, 根据最基本的外貌、声音、习惯特征等等, 英汉动物词汇有着相似的文化内涵, 两者之间有着一样或者是相似的联系。

例如, “狼”这个词在英语和汉语中是表示一样的意思。文化内涵也相似表示凶猛、贪婪、杀戮等等。在汉语中, 许多成语与“狼”这个动物词汇息息相关, 例如“狼心狗肺”, “狼狈为奸”, “引狼入室”等等。在英语中, 同样也有相关的俗语, 例如 “as cruel as a wolf”, “throw to the wolves”, “He is a sheep in wolf’s clothing”, “have a wolf by ears”, “wolf down”等等, 这些词汇均表达了和汉语相同的文化内涵意义。

3.2动物词汇不一样, 文化内涵相似

同样, 受各种因素的影响, 很多时候, 表达动物的词汇不一致, 却有着相似的文化内涵。例如, 汉语中有一个成语“胆小如鼠”, 意思是形容一个人像一只老鼠那样胆小害怕。英语中也有一些词汇如 “rabbit, chicken, pigeon”来形容一个人如兔子, 如鸡, 如鸽子一样胆小。又例如, 中国是一个农业大国通常用牛来耕地而英国更多的是用马来耕地。所以, 很多时候表达的动物词汇不一样, 但所描述的文化内涵却是相似甚至是一样的。

3.3动物词汇一样, 文化内涵不一样

我们可以从很多英语书籍中了解到, 许多相同的动物, 表达的寓意、文化内涵却不一样。这是一种文化差异性最真实的体现。因为不同的文化环境和历史文化所造成的, 所以出现动物词汇一样, 但是体现的文化内涵不一致也是理所当然、不可避免的。

四、总结

只有我们首先对英中两国历史文化有深厚的了解基础以后, 才可以更好地理解动物词汇之间的文化内涵。对于加深对英中两国的文化了解十分有必要, 并且消除由于缺乏对历史文化的了解而产生的障碍显得更加至关重要。因此, 对于动物词汇之间的文化内涵差异性有更深远的研究。

参考文献

[1]黎汉才.英国文化习俗词典[M].广东教育出版社, 1991. (1) :86-93.

[2]李悦.英汉动物词的文化内涵比较及其翻译[J].中南大学学报2003 (5) :3-5.

[3]李茜.英汉动物词汇的意蕴异同探究[J].怀化学院学报, 2007, (7) :2-3.

英汉谚语中“狗”意象的对比研究 篇3

摘 要：谚语在人民群众中广为流传，其中动物谚语更是受到人们的喜爱。文章以具有代表性的英汉谚语为例，分析英汉谚语中不同的“狗”意象，并探究“狗”意象产生差异的原因。

关键词：谚语 “狗”意象 英汉对比

一、引言

谚语是一个民族语言和文化发展的成果，是一个民族智慧的结晶。《现代汉语词典》将谚语定义为：在民间流传的固定语句，用简单通俗的话反映出深刻的道理。[1]其中包含动物词语的谚语最多，这与动物，特别是家畜类动物与人们的生活紧密联系有关。

意象（image）是客观物象经过创作主体独特的情感活动创造出来的一种艺术形象，即寓“意”于“象”。由于特定的民族心理，英汉两个民族往往对同一种动物赋予不同的感情，因而同一种动物在英汉语言中的意象也不完全相同（魏丽娟，2005）。本文考察最为常见的含“狗（dog）”的英汉谚语，以具有代表性的含“狗”的英汉谚语为例，对比分析“狗”意象的差异，并挖掘造成这种差异的原因。本文语料主要来源于《朗文当代英语词典》[2]、《英语谚语大辞典》[3]、《中华谚语大辞典》[4]、《ABC汉英谚语词典》[5]、《中英谚语对照手册》[6]及网络。

二、英汉谚语中不同的“狗”意象

汉民族在肯定狗忠诚可靠等正面意象的同时，也指出其负面意象。然而在英国等西方国家，人们认为狗是“人类最忠实的朋友”，是家庭的一员，其意象多为褒扬或中性（王伟娜，2010）。

（一）汉语谚语中特有的“狗”意象

1.狗是富家旺家的

（1）猫衰狗旺。

（2）猪来穷家，狗来富家，猫来孝家。

例（1）、（2）直接通过“狗旺”和“狗来富家”表达“富家旺家”的“狗”意象。汉语谚语中之所以说狗对家庭富裕兴旺有预示性，是因为狗习惯于去弃骨多的人家，而弃骨多也就意味着这户人家伙食丰盛，经济宽裕（王丹丹，2012）。

2.狗是忠主护家的

（3）饿狗不离主。

（4）护家之狗，盗贼所恶。

例（3）中的狗是忠诚于主人的，例（4）中的狗是守护家庭的。中国农业社会中的狗主要用于看家守门，和主人属于从属关系，有守护主人、守护家庭之说；而英国等西方家庭更多的是把狗当成家人，因此“狗是忠主护家的”这一意象是汉语谚语中特有的。

3.狗是感官灵敏的

（5）猎狗的鼻子，药农的眼。

（6）鸡犬认得家。

例（5）拿猎狗的鼻子与药农的眼相提并论，强调狗鼻子的灵敏和药农眼睛的明亮。例（6）指出狗擅长认家，也是因为狗有着十分敏锐的嗅觉，习惯嗅取所到之处的气味并撒尿标记。

4.狗是通人性、富有情感的

（7）雪落狗喜。

（8）猫儿狗儿识温存。

例（7）中的狗在下雪时高兴，和主人一样期待丰收。例（8）中的狗懂得主人对它的抚慰与照顾。这两个例子都说明狗是通人性的，有感情的。

5.狗是多管闲事的

（9）狗拿耗子，多管闲事。

抓耗子显然是猫的使命和本领，狗抓耗子是管了猫的“闲事”。例（9）通过这一点表现狗是多管闲事的，也体现了中国人的价值观，即对“干涉他人，甚至帮助他人的做法”持否定态度。

6.狗是势利的

（10）人爱富的，狗咬穷的。

（11）狗仗人势，雪仗风势。

由例（10）和（11）可见，狗是带有私心的，它善于依仗人势，恃强凌弱，它也懂得怎么做对自己有利，即狗是势利、仗势欺人的。

7.狗是不明是非的

（12）救了落水狗，反咬你一口。

（13）狗咬吕洞宾，不识好人心。

例（12）指出，救落水狗没有好下场，因为狗是恩将仇报的，它会反咬你一口。正如在中国人的价值观念中，狗作为低等动物是不知好歹的。例（13）出自历史典故，狗咬吕洞宾（道教仙人）显然是不明是非的表现。

（二）英语谚语中特有的“狗”意象

1.狗是动作迅速的

（14）Come like a dog at a whistle.

例（14）的句义为“像听到哨声的狗一样迅速到来”，这说明狗是动作迅速的，在听到口哨后能立即做出反应并快速行动。而狗的行动速度之快并没有在汉语谚语中得到体现，因为中国人用狗看家，不强调狗在行动速度上的天赋。而英国人将狗当作玩伴，会训练狗捡球等本领；同时英国人有带狗狩猎的习俗，会利用狗的速度帮助捕猎。

2.狗是得人心的

（15）Love me， love my dog.

（16）When a dog is drowning everyone offers him drink.

例（15）可译为“爱屋及乌”，是英国人视狗如家人的体现。例（16）的字面意思是“一旦狗遭淹，人人来喂水”，表面上看是指落井下石，但实际上是倡导人们要去救助落水狗，不要喂水加害。因而还有另一种表现形式（即异形）：When a dog is drowned every one offers him help.这两个例子都说明了狗是得人心的。

3.老狗是经验丰富的

（17）An old dog barks not in vain.

英语中常用狗指人，老狗（old dog）常用来指老人。例（17）句义为“老狗不会发出无缘无故的叫声”，常用来指有资历、经验丰富的老人说话有影响力。汉语谚语中只有“识途”的“老马”，却没有相应的老狗意象。

4.老狗是思想落伍的

（18）An old dog will learn no new tricks.

例（18）中的老狗同样指老人，句义为“老狗学不会新花招”，引申意义是“老年人很难适应新事物”。

5.狗是弱小、被欺压的

（19）The dogs bark， but the caravan goes on.

（20）A stick is quickly found to beat a dog with.

例（19）指车队不会因为狗的叫声而停止，即狗的力量只相当于“螳臂当车”，表现了“弱小”的“狗”意象。例（20）的句义为“打狗的棍棒很快就能被找到”，即“欲加之罪，何患无辞”，也说明狗是被欺压的，没能力的。

6.狗是虚伪的

（21）Dog wags their tails not so much in love to you as to your bread.

例（21）的句义为：狗摇尾巴不是因为爱你，而是为了你的面包。这说明了狗虚伪的一面。

三、英汉谚语中“狗”意象产生差异的原因

从以上关于英汉谚语中不同“狗”意象的举例和分析可见：在英语特有的“狗”意象中，含贬义色彩的“狗”意象所占比例较小，即“老狗是思想落伍的”和“狗是虚伪的”，其余则为褒义或中性色彩。而在汉语特有的“狗”意象中，褒贬较为均衡，其中含贬义色彩的“狗”意象有“狗是多管闲事的”“狗是势利的”“狗是不明是非的”。

英汉谚语中“狗”意象的种种差异是由英汉民族所处的不同地理环境、不同宗教信仰、不同历史文化等原因造成的。一方面，中国是农业大国，而狗对农业生产的作用并不明显，更多的是用于看门守家；另一方面，中国的封建社会历史使人们的等级观念根深蒂固，在人与动物的关系认识上也有着尊卑优劣的意识（钟鸣，2008），同时迷信思想也使许多动物被赋予或褒或贬的象征意义；再则，中国道教、佛教深入人心，而狗作为一种家畜自然不能感悟教义的真谛，它被认为是无知的；此外，中国的价值观还不提倡“干涉他人的分内事”。因而汉语谚语中会出现“狗是忠主护家的”“狗是势力的”“狗是富家旺家的”“狗是不明是非的”“狗是多管闲事的”等“狗”意象。而英语谚语中会独有“狗是得人心的”“狗是行动迅速的”“老狗是思想落伍或经验丰富的”“狗是被欺压的”等“狗”意象是由以下原因促成的：第一，在英国，牧羊犬等犬类在畜牧业中发挥了重要作用，同时人们常把家犬当做家庭的一员，呵护有加；第二，英国人有带狗狩猎的风俗，这是利用了狗灵活快速的行动能力；第三，在基督教的影响下，英国文化强调平等与向善，认为狗和人有着许多相似之处，常以狗喻人；此外，英国人看到了狗弱小的一面，反对欺压狗的行为。

四、结语

本文通过对英汉谚语中“狗”意象的对比研究，发现英汉两个民族对狗的认知存在许多差异。不同的“狗”意象源于英汉民族所处的不同地理环境、不同宗教信仰及不同历史文化等。汉民族对狗的态度褒贬均衡，而英美民族眼中的狗意象多为褒义和中性。对英汉谚语中“狗”意象的考察也有助于我们更好地了解英汉两种文化的差异。

（基金项目：本文为宁波大学2015年校级SRIP项目“英汉谚语中动物意象的对比研究”的阶段性成果。）

注释：

[1]现代汉语词典（第6版），北京：商务印书馆，2014年版，第1503页。

[2]Langman Dictionary of Contemporary English（4th edition），Beijing： foreign language teaching and Research Press，2003.

[3]英语谚语大辞典，南京：江苏教育出版社，2003年版。

[4]中华谚语大辞典，沈阳：辽宁人们出版社，1991年版。

[5]ABC汉英谚语词典，上海：汉语大辞典出版社，2002年版。

[6]中英谚语对照手册，北京：商务印书馆，2013年版。

参考文献：

[1]王丹丹.中韩动物谚语对比研究——以“马”和“狗”的为例[D].保定：河北大学硕士学位论文，2012.

[2]王伟娜.英汉谚语里动物词汇的文化内涵对比分析[D].上海：上海外国语大学硕士学位论文，2010.

[3]魏丽娟.英汉谚语中动物意象的比较研究[D].石家庄：河北师范大学硕士学位论文，2005.

[4]钟鸣.中西方谚语对比研究中折射出的中西方文化异同（之二）——中西方意识形态在谚语中的体现[J].西南民族大学学报，2008，（10）.

英汉词典的语义场释义对比研究 篇4

英汉词典的语义场释义对比研究

英汉词汇释义的简单对照并不能彻底体现英汉这两种语言之间存在的深层差异.但通过词汇语义场释义的`研究,就可以对每一个词汇有系统完整的认识,进而对英语有更完善的认知.文章以“高兴”语义场为例,对英汉语义场释义的对比研究进行具体分析.

作 者：王俊 作者单位：鲁东大学,山东,青岛,264025刊 名：考试周刊英文刊名：KAOSHI ZHOUKAN年，卷(期)：2007“”(10)分类号：H3关键词：高兴 语义场 英汉对比

浅析英汉谚语的翻译 篇5

摘 要 谚语是了解一个国家历史及文化的重要渠道之一，因此谚语的翻译也占有十分重要的地位。本文针对英汉谚语的翻译，提出一些常见的翻译方法、即套译法、直译加注法、直译法、意译法、直译加意译法以及省略法。

关键词 谚语 套译 直译 意译

中图分类号：H315.9 文献标识码：A

0引言

谚语是人类千百年来口耳相传、言简意赅的箴言。它是民间集体创造并广为流传，用于反映深刻道理的语句，是民众丰富智慧和普遍经验的总结。谚语不仅是我们中华民族的结晶，同时在外国也受到广泛应用。但由于人类普遍的社会活动以及思维过程存在一定的共通之处，使得汉英谚语之间存在一定差异的同时又有很多相同点。

1谚语翻译的几种方法

1.1套译法

有些英汉谚语不但有相同的意义和隐喻，并且有相同或相似的形象。这类谚语在翻译时则可以直接套用与之对应的异语谚语即可。例如英语中的Strike while the iron is hot与汉语中的“趁热打铁”即属于此类。再例如，英语中的Walls have ears可直接套用汉语中的成语“隔墙有耳”。

另一类亦可用套用法翻译的谚语不似上述例证所举，它们有相同的意义，却并未用相似的形象作为比喻。例如英语中的It is an ill bird that fouls its own nest可翻译成中文中的“家丑不可外扬”，两者的意义相通，所用形象却截然不同。在英语中使用鸟这种动物以及鸟巢的形象作为隐喻，而中文中的形象则是人类以及人的居所。

1.2直译加注法

很多汉英谚语都暗含典故，如果直接翻译容易为缺乏相关文化背景知识的异国读者所不能理解。而在异国文化中又很难找到与之同出一辙的相同典故或寓意相同的典故，因此在翻译此类谚语时应用直译加注法。谚语“三个臭皮匠顶个诸葛亮”，最好译成Three cobblers with their wits combined equal Zhuge Liang，the mastermind.通过在诸葛亮后加注the mastermind，让不了解中国文化或未曾听说过诸葛亮的读者也能知道诸葛亮智者的代名词。

同一思想内容的谚语，在不同文化中亦具有不同的表达方式。在翻译时采用直译加注法可保留原文的民族特色。例如中国谚语“一个和尚挑水喝，两个和尚抬水喝，三个和尚没水喝”，一般都将其译成One boy is a boy，two boys half a boy，three boys no boy.文中的“和尚”一词是有中国特色的文化负载词，直接将其译成boy，其文化意义皆失。

1.3直译法

直译法就是指在不违背译文语言规范以及不引起错误联想的条件下，在译文中保留英语谚语的比喻、形象和民族、地方色彩的方法。这样做既能较完整地保存原文的表达方式和原文的神韵，又可丰富我们自己的语言文化。80例如“雪中送炭”可直译成to offer fuel in snowy weather，“金钱是万恶之源”可直译为Money is the root of all evil。

另外，由于人类交流和沟通的益频繁在一定程度上减少了不同国家之间的差异性。这在谚语翻译上的体现就是某些带有文化色彩的谚语在翻译时不需要加注也不要转换形象。例如将All roads lead to Rome直接译成“条条大路通罗马”也能为中国读者所理解。

1.4意译法

有些英语谚语从表面上看和汉语谚语比较吻合或比较相似其实寓意很不一致，稍不留意就会歪曲谚语原有的意思。例如Lock the stable door after the horse has been stolen，初看容易让人想到中文里的“亡羊补牢”。可是“亡羊补牢”的后缀是“犹未晚矣”，而原文的意思是为时已晚，两者意思背道而驰。

若在翻译时无法保留原语的字面意义和形象意义，可将原文的形象更换成另一个译文读者所熟悉的形象，从而转达出原文的语用目的，如汉语中的“开门见山”，如果直译成open the door and see the mountain会让异国读者觉得莫名其妙，以为门外即是山。因此，在翻译时就需要用意译的方式翻译成to come direct to the point.1.5直译加意译法

有时在翻译英语谚语时，单纯的直译或意译都不能确切、有效地表达原来谚语的含义。这时可采用直译、意译相结合的方法进行翻译，以弥补直译难达意，意译难传神的不足。例如“无亲无故”若只是直译成without a single relative or friend只是表现了没有亲人的事实而没有表达出那种无依无靠的状况，因此需二者结合，即译成without a single relative or friend to help her out.1.6省略法

省略法多用于中文谚语的英译。中文的谚语多意思上的重复，在翻译成英语的时候为避免重复??嗦需用省略法省去中文中重复的部分。例如中文中形容女子美貌的谚语“沉鱼落雁之容，闭月羞花之貌”，句中的“沉鱼”“落雁”“闭月”“羞花”分指中国古代四大美女，因此在翻译时只需译出其中一个即可，此句可译成Her beauty would put the flowers to shame.若是将四个全译出，则显得过于繁琐。

2结语

毕业论文：英汉动物谚语的对比研究 篇6

词汇研究新趋势与英汉词汇对比研究的方法和内容

经过100多年的演变和发展,现代语言学研究取得了丰硕的.成果,对词汇研究产生了巨大的影响.为适应词汇研究的新趋势,现代英汉词汇对比研究应突破传统的窠臼,找准确有可比性的研究对象,在理论和方法上显示现代哲学、现代语言学、现代语义学和数理语言学的特色.

作 者：张维友 ZHANG Wei-you 作者单位：华中师范大学,外国语学院,湖北,武汉,430079刊 名：湖北大学学报(哲学社会科学版) PKU CSSCI英文刊名：JOURNAL OF HUBEI UNIVERSITY(PHILOSOPHY AND SOCIAL SCIENCE)年，卷(期)：32(5)分类号：H03关键词：新趋势 词汇 英汉语 方法 内容 对比研究

英汉动物拟声词对比小议 篇7

关键词英汉动物拟声词；语音；结构；语义

拟声词Onomatopoeia是一种非常普遍而又重要的语言现象，是对人、动物或自然物所发出的声音如实地加以描摹而构成的词，它通过声音的力量，使本来只能意会的事物更加直观化，变得更加生动形象。正确地运用拟声词，能够烘托气氛、显示意境、增强声势和实地情景感,使平淡的句子变得鲜活生动、富有情趣，堪称语言宝库里的奇葩。我们生活在一个充满声音的世界里，动物数量成千上万种，声音五花八门，动物拟声词应运而生，并在拟声词中占有重要的比重， 其丰富、形象、生动，大大增强了语言表现力。本文通过分析对比英汉两种语言中的动物拟声词，进一步了解和认识其共性与个性，从而使我们能够在今后的双语教学和翻译中准确把握和运用它们，使文章更加丰富多彩，更加生动形象，具有感染力，并从另外一个侧面让我们了解英汉两种语言的特点，对比较文化研究有些微启示。下面从语音、结构和语义三方面对英语和汉语有关动物的拟声词进行对比。

一、语音方面

英国启蒙运动时期著名的诗人亚历山大·蒲柏(Alexander Pope)曾说过: “声音是意义的回声。”而拟声词恰是对这句话的形象体现。由于不同种族和地域的人们对其所听见的声音的模仿存在着“基本相似性”，这种相似性便造成了语际间大量相似拟声词的普遍存在，因此不同语言里的拟声词可能出现语音对应，即对同一种声音，不同语言的拟声词在语音形式上可能基本等值或者十分相似。英语中的许多直接动物拟声词，都能在汉语找到与其语音完全或基本对应的词。如猫叫声，英语拟声词为mew ， 汉语拟声词为“喵”；鸽子的叫声，英语拟声词为coo，汉语拟声词为 “咕咕”；鸭子的叫声，英语拟声词为quack ，汉语拟声词为 “呱呱”；鹅的叫声，英语拟声词为cackle，汉语拟声词为 “嘎嘎”；青蛙的叫声，英语拟声词为croak ，汉语拟声词为 “嗝嗝”；牛的叫声，英语拟声词为moo，汉语拟声词为“哞哞”；杜鹃鸟的叫声，英语拟声词为为cuckoo，汉语为 “布谷”；蛇发出的声音，英语拟声词为hiss，汉语拟声词为“嘶嘶”。这类拟声词摹拟动物的发音，英语与汉语基本上相同或相近。但英语与汉语毕竟是两种不同的语言系统， 受到各自语言系统的制约，动物拟声词虽有相似的一面，却更多的表现为差异性，对同一动物的声音，英汉两种语言大多数摹拟得不同，甚至会有一种风马牛不相及的感觉。如狗叫声，英语用bark , yap , bow-wow，汉语用 “汪汪”；羊在汉语里是“咩咩”，英语却是bleat或baa；公鸡的打鸣声在汉语里是“喔喔喔”，英语却是cock-a-doodle-doo，类似的例子是数不胜数。英汉两种语言的动物拟声词在语音方面是异同并存，且异大于同。

二、结构方面

英语是以多音节词为主的语言，但英语动物拟声词的单音词却占优势，只有少数的双音节和多音节。恰恰和英语相反，汉语是以单音节为主的语言，但动物拟声词却有明显的双音或多音的特点，单音节词较少。在音节的构成上，汉语动物拟声词的双音或多音化与汉语特有的 “叠”传统有关。常见的模式如：（1）XX型：唧唧、呱呱、哞哞、吱吱、汪汪、嗡嗡、咕咕、嘎嘎、咯咯、啾啾、萧萧（马叫声）、呱呱、呦呦(鹿鸣声)、哇哇（乌鸦声）（2）XY型：喵呜、呢喃、啁啾、呼噜、咆哮、布谷、扑棱（鸟抖动翅膀的声音)、 哼哧(牛马喘气声)（3）XYY型：呼噜噜、支咕咕（鹧鸪叫声）、嘀哩哩（黄鹂叫声）、扑啦啦(鸟儿起飞声)（4）XXX型：喔喔喔、咯咯咯、嗡嗡嗡、呱呱呱、汪汪汪、吱吱吱（5）XXYY 型：唧唧喳喳、叽叽喳喳、唧唧啾啾、叽叽呱呱 （6）XXXX ：咕咕咕咕、嘎嘎嘎嘎、嗡嗡嗡嗡、吱吱吱吱、咯咯咯咯、哇哇哇哇、唧唧唧唧、哞哞哞哞。英语拟声词有（1）XX式：quack-quack（嘎嘎），baa-baa（咩咩），moo-moo（哞哞）（2）XY式：clip-clop（马蹄的得得声），hee-haw（驴叫）， bow-wow（汪汪）（3）XYZ式：cock-a-doodle-doo（喔喔喔）。英语也有音节重叠现象，但远不如汉语普遍，主要因为英语词的音节参差不齐。英语的XY式其实是XX的变式，即改变元音和改变辅音的一种重叠。并且，英语的XX式不能重叠成汉语的XXXX式， XY式也不能重叠成汉语的XXYY和XYY式。

三、语用方面

同英语相比，汉语拟声词用法更加灵活，英语拟声词较汉语更丰富多彩、细致入微。虽然我们的祖辈对各种动物的叫声都给予了专门的词语，如：“马嘶”、 “虎啸”、“鸡啼”、“蝉噪”、“狗吠”、“鹤唳”等，许多成语也留下了它们的足迹，如“鬼哭狼嚎”、“河东狮吼”等，但现代人对这些动物的声音习惯上喜欢笼统地概之于“……叫”，同一个拟声词可以模拟不同的动物叫声,可是，英语里这类“叫”声却有各有其词：quack（鸭子呱呱叫），croak（青蛙呱呱叫），caw（乌鸦呱呱叫）。汉语习惯上把各种牛叫都归结为”哞哞”，而英语却是无论雌雄长幼各有其词。

An ox lows(bellows).

A bull lows(bellows).公牛吼叫（哞哞叫）。

A cow moos.母牛哞哞叫。

A calf bleats.小牛哞哞叫。

就连同一种动物的叫声，英语中的拟声词也较汉语更细致、生动、丰富。猫声有 meow (张开嘴叫) 及 purr (愉快声)；猪声有squeal (大声尖叫)及grunt(发呼噜声)；狗吠声有 bark (咆哮), snarl (狂吠), whine (哀声), yelp (痛苦尖叫) 及 “bow-wow”（汪汪）。英文公鸡、母鸡、小鸡及火鸡、鹅的拟声词分别是 crow（喔喔叫），cackle or chuckle (咯咯), cheep (唧唧啾啾) , gobble-gobble (咯咯)及 cackles/gaggles咯咯。